


A Moment When You Finally Realise

by lovesnarf (snarfette)



Series: For the Ages [1]
Category: Victoria (TV)
Genre: Drumfred, Getting Together, M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 20:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12638931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarfette/pseuds/lovesnarf
Summary: Alfred has been trying to sort out his feelings for his friend, Edward, for some time, but some words from Albert help him to come to a realisation. (Modern AU, prequel of sorts)





	A Moment When You Finally Realise

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn’t resist writing a little fic that showed how they got together and incorporated their first kiss. Enjoy! Please let me know what you thought of this one.

“I thought you would be out tonight,” Albert remarked casually as Alfred sat down on the sofa with a cup of tea.

Alfred merely shrugged his shoulders and frowned down at his mug. He could feel his friend’s eyes on him but he refused to look up.

“So you will not be seeing Drummond tonight then?” Albert asked. It sounded like he was trying hard to not be too obvious in his questioning but Alfred still felt himself sag a little at the words. He hadn’t realised he’d obviously become so transparent.

Finally looking up, he found Albert watching him with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re going on about,” he replied.

“Ah, so you are going down the denial route then,” Albert said with a nod. “Is that why you are not going out then?”

“What?” Alfred asked. He was feeling slightly flustered by the conversation already.

“Well I would guess one of two things has happened,” Albert continued. “Either you have realised how much you like Edward and you are scared about what that means so you are going to avoid him until you figure out what to do, or he has made a move on you and you have panicked and told him you are not interested so he is sulking somewhere and you are sulking here.”

Alfred gaped at his friend. Since when had Albert become so astute? It wasn’t like he was an expert on romance and feelings, if his months of dancing around Victoria were anything to go by. Although, Alfred had to admit, they’d finally managed to figure it out and get together so maybe Albert was more in the know than he gave him credit for.

Albert was fairly close to the mark with his assessment of the situation and that just seemed to make Alfred all the more annoyed. Did everyone know what was in his head - or was it his heart? - before he did?

“I’m not sulking,” he replied petulantly and then realised it sounded an awful lot like he was. “It’s...complicated,” he added lamely.

“Ah,” Albert said with a nod. “The dreaded ‘complicated’. Maybe you would like to talk about it to make it less complicated.”

Alfred sighed but knew that his friend was probably right. He needed to say what was on his mind. Maybe actually saying it out loud instead of just going over and over it in his head would help.

“I don’t know what to do about it,” Alfred admitted quietly, suddenly finding his cup of tea completely fascinating. When Albert didn’t interrupt or comment, he continued. “I’m...I’m not sure how to deal with the situation and I don’t want to mess it up and lose him.”

“You are attracted to him, yes?” Albert asked, as straight to the point as ever.

“Well, yes,” Alfred replied.

“That much is obvious. You have been making heart eyes at him for a long time.”

Alfred might have denied it but there was really no point: he hadn’t been exactly discreet with his flirting.

“You like him. And you want to be with him. So why do you not just make a move? I think he would be open to your advances,” Albert said easily.

Sighing heavily, Alfred shook his head slightly. “It’s not that simple. I’m worried about...about how my family will react.”

For the first time during their conversation, Albert looked confused. “They know you are not straight though.”

Alfred nodded but grimaced. “They know I’m gay, although my father hasn’t exactly taken it too well. He’s been rather dismissive of the whole thing, like if he tells me, and himself, it’s just a phase it’ll turn out to be true. But that’s never mattered before because no-one else I’ve ever been seeing has mattered that much. They’ve all been casual things, but this, with Edward, I want...I want more.”

Albert nodded in understanding. “And you are worried that your parents will react badly to you being in a serious relationship with a man and this will cause problems for you with Edward?”

“I don’t want to lose him because of it. I don’t want to hurt him. I want to be able to take him home to meet my family but I don’t think I can. And he deserves better than that. If I’m with him, we shouldn’t have to hide that because my father is too ignorant to accept who I am.”

Albert looked at him and it was clear that he understood Alfred’s dilemma.

“And he’s one of my closest friends,” Alfred continued. “What if we ruin that because we try to be together. I don’t want just some one night stand with him. I want to be with him properly, but what if that doesn’t work? What if we mess it up?” He sighed in frustration. Sharing his concerns and thoughts about the ‘Edward situation’ didn’t seem to be helping all that much.

Albert watched him for a long moment. He looked thoughtful. “If Edward were to introduce his new boyfriend to you tomorrow, how would you feel?” he asked after a moment of quiet.

Alfred knew the answer to that immediately. He’d be gutted. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself. The thought of Edward with another man at his side was unbearable. He looked at Albert with slightly wide eyes, like the realisation had just struck him.

“Then I think you know what you must do,” Albert told him calmly. “All the things you are worrying about, they are not important, not really. Not if you consider that without acting at all because of them, you will surely lose Edward anyway. And I do not think you want that.”

No, he definitely didn’t want that. Surely he had to take the chance now, or risk never knowing what could have been between them. Edward wouldn’t wait around forever. And there was no way that someone else wouldn’t make a move on him at some point soon - he was gorgeous, after all, and had the personality to match. Wasn’t that why Alfred was halfway in love with him already?

He stood up from the sofa suddenly. Albert followed the movement but didn’t speak.

“I’m going to go and find him,” Alfred announced before he marched off towards his room.

“I do not think he will be in there,” Albert called after him, a smile obvious in his teasing tone.

“You’ve been very wise so far this evening,” Alfred shouted back. “Don’t ruin it now!”

Albert merely chuckled to himself before turning his attention back to his book.  
***  
Alfred had quickly got changed into a shirt that he knew Edward liked and a smart blazer. He’d rushed out of the flat he shared with Albert and had flagged down a taxi to take him to his destination.

He knew where he’d find Edward. ‘The Tinderbox’ was Edward’s favourite club in the city and when he’d suggested that Alfred join him for a night out earlier on that day, Alfred had known where he’d been intending to go.

Alfred had turned his offer down which had caused Edward’s mouth to turn down at the corners and his disappointment to be obvious. An excuse about wanting an early night hadn’t seemed to impress Edward, who had shrugged his shoulders pretending to be fine about it, but Alfred knew him too well. He knew that Edward had seen the look in his eyes recently as he struggled with his feelings. He knew that Edward was feeling hurt by the brush off he’d received. He was scared that Edward was beginning to wonder if Alfred was worth waiting for.

Alfred entered the club, immediately seeking out the man he desperately wanted to see. It was busy, and the noise and the heat reminded Alfred why he didn’t like clubbing unless he was drunk. It didn’t take him long to find Edward but he staggered to a halt at the sight before him.

In the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by people, Edward was moving in time to the music. His eyes were closed as he seemed lost in the action. Alfred would have happily stood and admired him for a while if it wasn’t for the tall, dark-haired man who was currently standing behind Edward with his hands on Edward’s hips. The man smirked to himself as Edward swayed to the music, his head falling back slightly.

With growing annoyance, Alfred watched as the man pressed himself up against Edward and leant forward as though he was going to kiss his neck. It was too much for Alfred to bear and he stomped across the dance floor, other clubbers jumping out of the way as he marched through the crowd, as though they could tell he was pissed off.

As he approached the two men, Edward’s eyes snapped open and he looked straight at Alfred in surprise. He immediately moved away from the man behind him, almost like he’d not even realised the man had been dancing so closely against him. “I didn’t think you were coming out tonight,” he shouted above the music.

“I wasn’t going to,” Alfred yelled back. ‘But it’s a good job I did,’ he silently added to himself as he eyed up the man standing looking a little pissed off behind Edward. “Can I talk to you?” he said against Edward’s ear as he leant in.

“Oi mate, we’re a bit busy here,” the man behind Edward yelled at him above the music.

Edward turned slightly to face him, looking a little bemused at his words. “Look, I’ve got to go - sorry.”

Fortunately, the stranger seemed to take the hint and accept that Edward wasn’t going to be dancing with him any longer. He blew out a slightly disgruntled breath, rolled his eyes and wandered off into the crowd of bodies.

Feeling triumphant that Edward had picked talking to him over dancing with some stranger so easily, Alfred blew out his own sigh of relief at the fact that he’d gone before signalling to Edward that they should head away from the dance floor.

They found themselves upstairs on the roof terrace, leaning against the railing as they looked out over the city lights. It was much quieter away from the pulsing beats of the dance floor downstairs and there were surprisingly few people up there, just a couple of smokers huddled around the heater chatting away.

“I love it up here,” Edward said as he stared out into the night. “The view’s so beautiful, don’t you think?”

Alfred had been watching Edward since they’d arrived on the terrace, unable to tear his eyes away from the man before him, regardless of how wonderful the view of the city was. “Breathtaking,” he murmured in response to the question.

Edward turned to Alfred suddenly and caught him staring. He frowned a little. “Look, if you’re going to give me some lecture about dancing with strange guys, you can save it. I’ve heard it all before.”

A frustrated expression immediately appeared on Alfred’s face. Edward was right: he had heard it before because Alfred had warned him before. The problem was that Edward was so sweet and so friendly that he didn’t ever see the bad in anybody. They’d had so many conversations about how Edward needed to be careful when he was out because one day someone might try to take advantage of his kindness, but Edward just thought that Alfred was fussing and never seemed to take his advice seriously. They kept having the same ‘debate’ about it - round and round - and regardless of Edward telling him to stop worrying, Alfred was never going to be able to do that.

When Alfred had seen the situation on the dance floor downstairs, he’d immediately felt his hackles rise that someone else was dancing with his Edward, but also that Edward seemed so oblivious to the man’s intentions. However, he didn’t want to get into yet another discussion that would just leave him frustrated.

“That’s not why I brought you up here,” Alfred told him.

“Well, good. Because it was just dancing,” Edward replied a little petulantly.

“That’s just it though.” Alfred swallowed thickly before he continued. It was now or never. “I don’t want you dancing with anyone else - ever.”

Edward looked at him in disbelief. His mouth moved a couple of times, as though he was searching for words, but no sound came out.

Alfred was just pleased that he hadn’t immediately walked away from him. He waited for the words to sink in with Edward.

Eventually, Edward spoke. “What are you talking about?”

A soft smile tugged at Alfred’s lips. He huffed out a little laugh. “I’m trying to tell you that I’d really like you to be my boyfriend.”

The look on Edward’s face wasn’t what he’d wanted or expected. He looked doubtful and serious, and it was nothing like the moment that Alfred had imagined in his head.

The smile fell from Alfred’s face as he felt his stomach flip uncomfortably. Maybe he’d got it all wrong: maybe he was alone in feeling what he did.

A sigh fell from Edward’s mouth, but he didn’t step away from Alfred. Alfred was sure his heart would have shattered in his chest if that had happened.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear that,” Edward admitted quietly. “But I...I don’t want this to be...I don’t want you to say this tonight and then in a few days change your mind because you’ve realised it’s not what you really want...like it was some sort of indiscretion. Because I know that you’ve had a hard time with your family and I can’t...I can’t have you tell me you want me and then take that away because it’s too hard for you to deal with. I couldn’t...I don’t think I could cope with that.”

“Edward,” Alfred sighed. “I can’t promise you that everything will be easy. My family...well, you know they’re finding it hard to accept who I am, but I’m not. I know who I am and I know what I want and for the first time in ages I’m not afraid to say it. And my father will probably lose his mind over this, but I don’t care. You mean so much to me that it’s worth risking his anger to be with you.  
“I’ve been afraid that I’ll lose you if this doesn’t work out for some reason, but I’ve finally realised that I’ve got to take the risk because I can’t bear the thought of not being with you anymore.”

There were a few moments of silence after Alfred had finished speaking. Edward was looking at him with a soft smile on his beautiful face; a look of awe shining in his eyes.

He didn’t speak. Instead he surged forwards, hand on Alfred’s shoulder, pressing his lips to Alfred’s in a brief kiss that sent Alfred’s heart soaring. He pulled back slightly, looking into Alfred’s eyes, before he leant in again, his hand moving up to the side of Alfred’s neck as he kissed him again. Another quick kiss, leaving Alfred breathless and starry-eyed and almost unsure of how to react, and then Edward kissed him again: this time lingering over the feeling of their lips moving together. Alfred finally moved, his hand coming up to cup the back of Edward’s neck to pull him closer as Edward nearly sent him stumbling backwards with the desperation of the kiss.

They pressed close, holding onto one another as their lips moved together. Then they separated, staying close enough that their breath still mingled in the space between them. They both smiled softly at one another, foreheads pressed gently together, Alfred’s fingers caressing the back of Edward’s head, stroking through the hair at the nape of his neck.

Alfred felt like he’d slipped into the most wonderful of dreams. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the face before him, even as Edward allowed his eyes to close, a soft smile on his face. He tilted his head slightly, his nose rubbing gently against Edward’s, causing the other man to smile once more and exhale a sigh of sheer contentment.

Alfred’s heart swelled with joy and love. This was everything he wanted. The man in his arms was everything he needed.

“Edward,” Alfred whispered, almost afraid to interrupt this perfect moment, “what does this mean?”

The smile remained on Edward’s face. “It means, I don’t want to be without you either.”

Alfred’s heart soared. He couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face, but he was still nervous about what he wanted to ask. “Would you...” He swallowed thickly. “Would you like to come home with me?” he finally managed to ask.

The heat in Edward’s sparkling brown eyes was enough of an answer. “I’d really like that,” he murmured.

Taking his hand, squeezing once, Alfred pulled him towards the stairs and their future - together.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments/kudos to let me know what you thought.
> 
> If anyone has any prompts for ficlets they’d like to see for this series, let me know in the comments and I’ll see if it’s something I can work with.
> 
> I’m snarfettelove on tumblr.


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